Page 52 of Guarding My Love

He was too used to his brother Braylon always gathering facts. Even West.

“You never know,” he said. “If you don’t engage, then you’ve got a record of him bothering you. I hope you don’t need to get a restraining order or anything on him, but it’s nice to have that information.”

She got up and moved to her clothes on the floor, his eyes going right to her ass.

She turned with her phone in her hand. “You like what you see?” she asked.

“Very much so,” he said. “What are you doing? I’m not keen on naked pictures.”

She came over and flopped on the bed. “Texting Landon to leave me alone and that I know he was at my house this weekend and to not come back.”

He was going to ask if that was smart but decided to let her do her own thing. It wasn’t his place to tell her what to do. She was a grown woman.

She typed her text, showed it to him, and then hit send.

“Put it from your mind now,” he said. “If he replies and you don’t feel safe or feel threatened, I want to know. You’ll tell me, right?”

“Of course I’ll tell you,” she said.

“What did you see in him?” he asked. He just had to know.

“He treated me well,” she said. “He doted on me and spoiled me and made me feel like a princess. I guess I just wanted to feel as if some man in my life could make me that important. Then I realized that when someone does those things, they are hiding more important stuff I should know about. I like raw honesty now. It works better.”

“So I’m not someone you’re testing your theory with?” he asked.

“Absolutely not,” she said. “It’s about time I date someone my own age or at least within a few years older than me. I bet I wouldn’t feel out of place around you and your friends or family. I always did with Landon or other men. Their family looked at me as a gold digger when I wasn’t. I didn’t care about the money. I mean it’s not like Landon could have been my father. He was forty-five. I’m thirty-three. Twelve years isn’t horrible.”

“You’re thirty-three?” he said.

“Yes,” she said. “Why?”

He started to laugh. “Guess you are making a change.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“You’re the old one in the relationship now.”

17

SO UNCONTROLLED

“You’re sure I’m not bothering you?” Charlotte asked Amanda two days later.

She’d texted her sister to see how she was doing and Amanda called her a few hours later.

“Not at all,” Amanda said. “Harper is sleeping. Drew is out running errands with Liam and I’ve got the house to myself. It’s perfect.”

“You should be napping yourself,” she said.

“I’m sleeping just fine. Drew is wonderful. He’s been getting up with Harper too and feeding her. We’ve got a routine so I’m getting at least five hours straight and so is he. Then we’ve got a few more hours too throughout the night.”

“I’m so happy you are getting the help,” she said.

“Lots of help,” Amanda said. “Helena is here a lot. Coy and Angel have taken Liam overnight once. Bode and Sam will, even Kayla offered.”

Coy and Bode were Drew’s brothers and their wives. Kayla was one of Amanda’s best friends. Her other best friend, Sidney, just had twins last month.

“You know I’d help if I was close by,” she said. “I wish I could visit more often.”

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